Hair rooting equipment



Feb. 5, 1957 D. LENoBLE 2,780,190

HAIR ROOTING EQUIPMENT Ifile# June 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet l 71 M 105 98 73a Ici-l* :i e X02 I -lff 22g 9g Q 8.5' 5% /f 5 L w j# 93 .82 4 iff@ 5f if il E l E *f Z39 55 -v fo/M 1267- 15.2. JM 707 fg] fi? jj f ATTORNEYS Feb. 5, 1957 Filed Jung 16, 1954 D. LENOBLE HAIR ROOTING EQUIPMENT 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 f ATTORN EYS Feb. 5, 1957 D. LENG-BLE' 2,780,190

HAIR ROOTING EQUIPMENT Filed June 16, 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet f5 INVENTOR Danzl Lezwle jfMw/AM ATTORNEYS Feb. 5, 1957 D. LENOBLE 2,780,190

HAIR ROOTING EQUIPMENT Filed June 16, 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 95 U l N V E N TO R la/zz'el Lezw/e ATTORN EYS United States Patent O HAIR ROOTDTG EQUIPMENT Daniel Lenoble, New York, N. Y., assigner to Sayco Doll Corp., a corporation of New York Application June 16, 1954, Serial No. 437,859

19 Claims. (Cl. 112 79.5)

As conducive to an understanding of the invention, -it is noted that in the manufacture of dolls, for example, having heads of resilient plastic material, the human hair is generally simulated by attaching tufts vof thread to the dolls head.

Where pre-cut lengths of thread, simulating hair, are attached to the dolls head by pushing a hooked needle through the head, engaging the length of thread and then pulling the bight of the loop thus formed, through the head a short distance and after the required number of lengths are connected to the head as above described, securing the bight ends as by adhesive, the operation is extremely time-consuming and costly.

In order that the scalp be completely covered, it is essential that the root ends of the tufts he close together. However, where this is done and the lengths of the tufts are also closely packed, the hair is difficult to comb and often becomes tangled.

It is also to be noted that to simulate a human head of hair, the lengths of hair on the dolls head may be of different lengths. Thus, the front of the head may have short bangs, the sides may be of another length and the back still another and where the hair is cut to desired length after it is aliixed to the dolls head, the operation is time-consurning and wasteful.

Where the hair is aixed by automatic means which must be stopped and readjusted to form different lengths tof hair, the operation is also extremely time-consuming.

It is accordingly among the objects of the invention to provide an equipment which is dependable in operation and not likely to become out of order even with long continued use and which dispenses with the need for precutting lengths of thread and which may be incorporated in a substantially conventional sewing machine 'of the type used to stitch such itemsas luggage, harness and shoes with but few simple modifications thereto and which at a relatively high rate of speed will, from a continuous length of thread, form tufts having a pair of legs, each of desired predetermined length, one of which may be varied as the machine is in operation, and which will securely attach such tufts to an article without need for any adhesive to hold the tufts in place, and which will enable a minimum amount of material to be used for effective covering of the article thereby eliminating waste with resultant saving.

According to the invention from its broader aspect, a

conventional sewing machine such as of the type used to sew luggage, for example, has associated therewith a rotatable member which serves to draw the span of thread between adjacent holes in the article made by the needle, to form an elongated loop, means being associated with said rotatable member to elongate one of the legs of said loop and further means are associated with said rotatable member to disengage the reversely bent end of the loop therefrom when the legs of the loops are of predetermined length.

In the accompanying drawings in which are shown one 2,780,190 i Patented Feb. 5, 1957 or more of various possible embodiments of the several features of the invention,

Fig. l is a side view of the machine,

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary View similar to Fig. l on an enlarged scale with parts broken away,

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 3 3 of Fig. l,

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4 4 of Fig. 3,

Fig. 5 is a sectional View taken along line 5 5 of F-ig. 1,

Fig. 6 is a detail sectional View taken along line 6 6 of Fig. 3,

Fig. 7 is a View similar to Fig. 6 taken along line 7 7 of Fig. 4, and

Fig. 8 is a View taken along line 8 8 of Fig. 3.

Referring now to the drawings, the equipment shown to illustrate the invention desirably includes a sewing machine 11 such as -that manufactured by the Puritan Luggage Machine Company of Boston, Massachusetts, which illustratively forms a chain stitch. As such machine is of conventional type and well known in the art, it will only be described to the extent necessary for a clear understanding of the invention.

Mounted on the upstanding post 12V of the sewing machine and extending laterally therefrom beneath the head 13 is a bearing bracket 14 which, as shown in Fig 5, is a substantially U-shaped member having arms 15 extending outwardly from the ends of the legs 16 and affixed to the post 12 as by screws `17.

The bracket 14 at its reversely bent end 18 has a bearing 19- and a second bearing 21 is provided between the legs 16 as is clearly shown in Fig. 5. Rotatably mounted in the bearing 21 is a shaft 22 driven through bevel gears 29 and 30 by a transmission 2d from the main drive motor M. Aflixed to the shaft 22 is a pinion 23A which meshes with an idler gear 24 (Figs. 4 and 5) aiiixed to a stud shaft 25 as is a pinion 26 positioned below gear 24.

The shaft 25 which mounts gear 24 and pinion 26 is desirably mounted on a block 27 (Fig. 2) which isvaixed to `one of the `arms 16 of bracket 14 as by screws 28. The pinion 26 meshes with a gear 31 affixed to a stud shaft 32 rotatably mounted in the bearing 19 as is clearly shown in Figs. 4 and 5.

The bearing 19, as shown in Fig. 3, is encompassed by a clamp member 36 at the end of a laterally extending arm 37. The arm is securely affixed in position bythe tightening of a screw 38 extending through ears 39 of the clamp member.

Extending parallel to arm 37 and positioned beneath the latter is a blade carrying arm 41 which is pivoted near its inner end 42 to arm 37 by means of a pin 43.

As shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 6, a cutting blade 44 is positioned beneath the outer end 45 of arm 4l. The blade 44 desirably comprises a substantially rectangular block of hardened steel, which has its cutting edge 46 extending parallel to the length of arm 4l. The blade 44 has a pair of longitudinally aligned openings 47 therethrough in each of which is positioned the lower end of a stud 48, the upper ends of which are affixed as at 49 to the arm 41. The blade 44 is normally urged downwardly, guided by the studs 48, by means of coil springs 50 encompassing each of the studs, so that the undersurface yof said blade will be urged against the upper surface of a disc 51.

The disc 51 (Fig. 4) is mounted on the lower end of stud shafts 32 and has a central hub 52 secured to the shaft 32 as by set screw 53. The disc 5l lies in a hori zontal plane and has a plurality of spaced arcuate slots 54 adjacent its periphery 55, the trailing edge of each of said slots having a plurality of spaced fingers 56 lying in the same plane as the disc 51 and inclined toward the periphery 55, the blade 44 extending transversely across the pat-h of movement of said slots 54.

Encompassing the hub 52 is a ring 57 from which rises a plurality of pins 58 equally spaced around the ring and corresponding in number to the number of arcuate slots 54 in disc 51. The pins are designed with rota tion of disc 51, in a clockwise direction from the position shown in Fig. 3, successively to abut against a finger 59 extending longitudinally of arm 41 beyond end 42 thereof, to pivot the blade carrying end 45 of arm 41 in a counterclockwise direction against the tension of a coil spring 61 aflixed at one end to arm 41 and at its other end to a bracket 62 mounted on arm 37.

The ring 57 has a plurality of arcuate slots 65 through which extend screws 66 affixed at their lower ends in threaded openings 67 in disc 51. Thus, by adjusting the position of ring 57, the pins 58 can be set to pivot arm 41 at any desired time with respect to the position of slots 54.

The diameter of the disc 51 is such, that each of the slots 54, as the disc rotates, will be vertically aligned with the sewing machine needles 71, two of which are illustratively shown. Associated with the needles 71 are a plurality of thread guide sleeves 72 carried by an arm 73 of a thread guide member 74. The thread guide member 74 is a conventional part of the sewing machine and is moved by the mechanism of such machine in a substantially elliptical path to move the thread passing through each sleeve under the hook end 75 of each of the sewing machine needles in conventional manner so that the thread may be pulled through an article to form a chain stitch.

To prevent injury to the operator from the rotating disc 51, a guard plate 76 is positioned beneath the disc 51, desirably supported on the horizontal leg 77 of an L-shaped supporting bracket 78, the vertical leg 79 of which is aixed to a sleeve 81 which encompasses the lower end of a rod 82 affixed to bracket 14 and to a block 83 which has bearings 84 in which are positioned the upper ends of shafts 32 and 22.

The guard plate 76 desirably has an upstanding flange 85 on its front edge and is cut away as at 86 at the portion thereof adjacent the needles 71 to permit free movement of said needles through the arcuate slots 54 in disc 51 to perform the stitching operation in the manner to be described.

The head 13 of the sewing machine carries a conventional presser foot 91, which, as shown in Fig. l, extends laterally beneath the periphery of disc 51 and is supported at the lower end of the vertical leg 92 of an L-shaped arm 93 mounted on a vertically movable shaft 94 in said head. Thus, when an article is positioned beneath the presser foot 91 and a presser plate 95, supported by the vertical bar 96 of the machine, and the shaft 94 is moved downwardly in conventional manner, the article will be securely gripped. The presser foot 91 and presser plate 95 have aligned slots through which the needles may pass in conventional manner to perform the desired operation on the article.

Mounted on the front end 97 of arm 13 of the sewing machine is a bracket 9S which has a pair of vertically aligned bearings 99 through which extends a stud shaft 101. The lower end of the shaft 101 mounts a bevel gear 102 which meshes with a complementary bevel gear 103 mounted in the transmission 20 from Vthe main drive motor M. The upper end of shaft 101 mounts a sprocket Wheel 104 which, through sprocket chain 105 drives a sprocket wheel 106 affixed on a hollow vertical shaft 107. The shaft 107 is journalled near its upper end in a bearing 108 affixed to the front end 97 of arm 13 at the rear thereof and also extends through a bearing 109 clamped by screw 111 in the end of an arm 112 supported at its other end on the sewing machine. As shown in Figs. 2 and 4, collars 113 and 114 are aixed to shaft 107 by set screws 115 and straddle the bearings 4 108 and 109 to prevent vertical displacement of shaft 107.

A sleeve 116 encompasses the lower end of shaft 107 and is affixed thereto by set screw 117. Extending into sleeve 116 is the central hub 118 of a spider unit 119 illustratively having three arms 121, 122 and 123 radiating from said hub. As is clearly shown in Figs. 4 and 7, the sleeve 116 is connected to the hub 118 of the spider 119 in such manner to permit relative movement of the hub with respect to the sleeve. To this end, a set screw 124 extends through a threaded opening 125 in sleeve 116 into a horizontal slot 126 in hub 118.

As is clearly shown, the arms of the spider lie in a horizontal plane beneath the plane of disc 51 and the ends of each of the spider arms, which are conformed as hooks 127, are designed to move through an arcuate path that passes near the hooks 71.

To prevent injury to the operator, the spider is also provided with a guard plate 128 supported in suitable manner beneath the spider.

In order to effect relative movement of the spider with respect to sleeve 116 and to rotate the spider, a rod 129 extends through the bore of sleeve 107 and a pair of spaced collars 133 and 134 are affixed to the upper end of rod 129 as by set screws 135, the collars straddling a sleeve 136 through which the rod 129 extends.

Means are provided to effect vertical movement of Ithe sleeve 136 and therefore of the rod 129. To this end, as is shown in Fig. 2, the end of one of the legs of an L-shapcd link 137 is pivotally connected as at 138 to a finger 139 extending laterally outward from the sleeve 136. The end of the other leg of the link is pivotally connected as at 141 to one end of a lever 142 pivoted as at 143 near its other end to a bracket 144 affixed as by screws 145 to the arm 13 of the machine. To actuate the lever 142, a handle bar 146 is provided awed at one end to lever 142. The bar 146 is so designed that its free end 147 will be resiliently urged toward the arm 13 of the machine so that it will be retained in one of the plurality of notches 149 in a bracket 151.

The lower end of rod 129 is conformed as a screw 152 and extends through a correspondingly threaded opening 153 in the top wall 154 of hub 113. Thus, when the rod 129 is moved vertically, as it is restrained from rotation with respect to shaft 107, by reason of pin 155 afuxed at one end in rod 129 and extending through a vertical slot 156 in shaft 107, the spider will be rotated with respect to sleeve 107.

Operation l Bobbins of `continuous lengths of suitable thread T are mounted in conventional holders near the machine. The thread may be of a suitable plastic which is treated so that when attached to the dolls head it will curl to simulate hair. The thread from each bobbin is passed through guide loops 130, through an associated guide sleeve 72 and then through an arcuate slot 54 in disc 51 so that a few inches of the thread extends beyond the sleeve 72.

A dolls head of resilient plastic material, for example, is then positioned between the presser foot 91 and the presser plate 95 and the presser foot 91 is moved downwardly by shaft 94 in conventional manner securely to grip the dolls head as is shown in Fig. 8.

The motor M is then energized to start the machine. As a result, pinion 23 will rotate gear 24 and pinion 26 to rotate gear 31 and shaft 32 which will rotate the disc 51 in a clockwise direction from the position shown in Fig. 3.

At the same time, through the transmission 20, gears 103 and 102, shaft 101, sprocket wheel 104 and sprocket chain 105, the sprocket wheel 106 will be driven to rotate sleeve 107. As a result, through the drive imparted to rod 129 from pin 155 the spider 119 will be rotated in a counterclockwise direction from the position shown in Fig. 3.

The ratio of the drive from transmission 20 to shaft 107 with respect to the rotation of disc 51 is so selected that each time one of the slots 54 passes the needles 71, the hook end 127 of one of the arms 122 Will also move by the needles. Thus, as there are nine slots 54 in disc 51, the ratio of the drive with three arms is illustratively three to one.

The energization of motor M will cause the needles 71 to pass through the dolls head and through a slot 54 in the rotating disc 51 until the needles are adjacent an associated guide sleeve 72. The guide arm 73 will then move in a substantially elliptical path so that each thread T is moved under the hook end 7S of the associated needle.

The needles will then move downwardly to draw the threads through the holes previously made by the needles in the dolls head. This operation is conventional and well known in the art.

At this time the trailing edge 56 of the arcuate slot 54 through which the needles have just passed, will engage the threads to move them to the position shown in Figs. 3 and 8 to form a loop having one leg 161 below the disc 51 and one leg 162 on top olf the disc 51 extending through the associated thread guide. After the trailing edge 56 of slot 54 engages the threads T, the hook end 127 of the arm 123, for example, of spider 119 will engage the lower legs 161 of such loops and elongate such lower legs 161.

Through the conventional sewing machine mechanism, the dolls head will be shifted to the next position and the needles will again pass through the head into the next arcuate slot; the threads will be passed under the hook ends of the needles by the guide sleeve and the needles will again be lowered to complete a chain stitch.

At this time a pin S8 on ring 57 mounted on disc 51 will strike finger 59 on arm 41 rapidly to pivot the blade carrying end 45 thereof in a counterclockwise direction from the position shown in Fig. 3 against the tension of spring 61 so that the blade 44 will wipe over the end 56 of slot 54 to sever the bight ends of the loops of thread thus formed.

It is noted that the reversely bent end is not severed until after the chain stitch has been completed so that the tufts of hair thus formed will be dependably secured to the dolls head.

The lever operated knife blade is provided by reason of the fact that the disc 51 is moving at a slower rate of speed than the movement ot" the threads T drawn by the faster moving arm 123. Thus, if the knife blade was fixed, as the threads moved thereagainst for severing, as they would be drawn past the blade, by reason of the movement of arm 123, at a greater speed than the speed at which the severing occurred, the thread might be torn with resultant failure to make a clean `cut and the threads would also be stretched thereby removing some of the curl in the threads. By reason of the pivotal mount of the blade, it is moved for the cutting action at a higher velocity than the movement of the thread and hence a clean cut is made without likelihood of stretching.

The length of legs 161 is dependent upon the relative position of the hook end 127 of arm 123 for example, with respect to the trailing edge 56 of the associated slot 54 in disc 51. Thus, if the hook end 127 should not engage leg 161 until after the blade 44 has severed the bight end of the loop, the two legs 161, 162 will be suostantially the same length. If the hook end 127 should engage leg 161 immediately after the needle 71 has pulled the thread through the dolls head, the leg 161 will attain its maximum length.

The spider unit 119 is initially positioned so that with the end 147 of handle 146 in the uppermost position shown in Fig. 2, the legs 161, 162 of the loop will be substantially the same length.

To lengthen the leg 161 of the loop, it is merely necessary to press down on the end 147` ofA handle 146 to adjust the relative position of the arms of the spider unit 119. Through lever 142 and link 137 this will lift sleeve 136 andy rod 129 which will slide upwardly in shaft 107. Hence, through the action of screw 152 and threaded opening 154 the spider unit 119 will be rotated in a clockwise direction from the position shown in Fig. 3 to form a longer leg 161.l To form a shorter leg 161 it is merely necessary to move end 147 of the handle back toward the position shown in Fig. 2.

Thus, each tuft of hair on the dolls head will have legs which may be the same length, equal'to the distance between thread guide 72 and blade 44 or the leg 162 can 'be of length equal to such distance and the leg 161 considerably longer based upon the setting of spider unit 119.

Of course, by adjusting the position of arm 37 by means of clamp 36, the length of leg 162 of the loop can also be adjusted.

Although the position of the spider in theV illustrativ embodiment herein is manually adjustable, it is within the scope of the invention to have the spider automatically adjusted by suitable mechanism such as cams or solenoids controlling the position of rod 129. Such mechanism could be pre-set to operate at the proper time so that hairs of different length can be affixed to desired portions of the ldolls head.

The equipment above described facilitates the manu. facture of a product that more closely simulates a natural head, and is relatively light in weight and as the machine does not have to be stopped to adjust the length of the hair, it provides enhanced production at lower cost.

As many changes could be made inthe above equip ment, and many apparently widely diierent embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope of the claims, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying Idrawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, what 4I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. In a chain stitch type sewing machine having a `reciprocating needle with a hooked end, a supporting member to carry an article, a presser foot to retain such article on said supporting member, said presser foot and said supporting member having alignedl openings for passageway of said needle, and means to guide a thread around the hooked end of said needle; the combination therewith of means movable between said presser foot and said guide means to engage the thread between the presser foot and the guide means to form an elongated loop with a reversely bent end and two legs, means to elongate at least one of the legs of such loop and means thereupon to disengage such loop from said means to engage the thread.

2. The combination recited in claim l in which the means to disengage said loop comprises severing means in the path of movement of the portion of the thread engaged by said movable means.

3. The combination set forth in claim l in which means are provided to adjust the position of the means to elongate one of the legs 4of such loop thereby to adjust the length of the elongated leg of said loop.

4. The combination set forth in claim l in which means are provided to adjust the position of the means to elongate one of the legs -of such loop while the loop is being formed thereby to adjust the length of the elongated leg of said loop.

5. The combination set forth in claim 1 in which means are provided to adjust the lengths of both of the legs of said loop.

6. The combination set forth in claim l in which the 7 means to disengage the loop comprises a cutting blade to sever the reversely bent end of said loop.

7. The combination set forth in claim 1 -in which themeans to disengage the loop comprises a movable cutting blade to sever the reversely bent end of said loop.

8. The combination recited in Aclaim 1 in which said movable means comprises a member conformed to provide clearance for the needle to move thereby, said member having means to engage the portion of the thread between the thread guide and the presser foot, whereby when said needle has moved clear of said member, continued movement of said member will form such elongated loop.

9. The combination set forth in claim 8 in which said movable member is a disc rotatable in a plane at right angles to the path of movement of the needle, said disc having a plurality of openings successively moved into alignment with the needle, each of said openings having a thread engaging portion, and the means to elongate one of the legs of the loop comprises a hook movable past said needle and adapted to engage said leg.

l0. The combination set forth in claim 8 in which said member is a disc rotatable in a plane at right angles to the path of movement of said needle, said disc having a plurality of arcuate slots therethrough successively moved into alignment with said needle, the trailing edge of each of said slots defining a thread engaging portion, and the means to disengage the reversely bent end of the loop comprises a cutting blade positioned so as to extend substantially transversely across the slots in the path of movement of the trailing edges thereof for severing of the reversely bent ends of the loops carried by the respective trailing edges of the slots.

ll. The combination set forth in claim 10 in which said cutting blade is mounted at the end of a pivoted arm, and means are provided to pivot said arm with rotation of said disc.

12. The combination set forth in claim 10 in which said cutting blade is mounted at one end of an arm pivoted between its ends, and said disc carries a plurality of upstanding circumferentially spaced pins adapted successively to engage the free end of said arm to pivot the latter so as to move the cutting blade in direction opposed to the direction of rotation of the disc.

13. The combination set forth in claim 8 in which said movable member is a disc rotatable in a plane at right angles to the path of movement of the needle, said disc having a plurality of openings successively moved into alignment with the needle, each of said openings having a thread engaging portion and the means to elongate one of the legs of the loop comprises a rotatable member having a plurality of radiating hooks lying in a plane at -right angles to the path of movement of the needle and adapted successively to move past said needle to engage said leg. v

14. The combination set forth in claim 13 in which both of said rotatable members lie in a horizontal plane with the second rotatable member being in a plane below the plane of the first rotatable member.

15. The combination set forth in claim 13 in which means are provided to rotate said rotatable members in opposed directions.

16. The combination set forth in claim 13 in which said second rotatable member has a plurality of equally spaced radiating arms and said hooks are carried by said arms.

17. The combination set forth in claim 13 in which means are provided to adjust the relative position of said hooks with respect to said openings in the disc.

18. The combination set forth in claim 8 in which said movable member is a disc rotatable in a plane at right angles to the path of movement of said needles, said disc having a plurality of openings successively moved into alignment with the needle, each of said openings having a thread engaging portion, and the means to elongate one of the legs of the loop comprises a member rotatable in a plane at right angles to the path of movement of the needle and having a plurality of radiating hooks, said second rotatable member lying in a horizontal plane beneath the first rotatable member with said hooks adapted successively to move past said needle to engage said leg.

19. The combination set forth in claim 18 in which a hollow shaft is provided, means to rotate said shaft, a rod in said shaft longitudinally keyed to rotate with the latter, means connecting said second rotatable member to said shaft for movement of said rotatable member with respect to said shaft, in a piane at right angles thereto, means to reciprocate said rod in said shaft and complementary means connecting said rod to said second movable member to effect rotation of said second movable member with reciprocation of said rod.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,884,127 Myers Oct. 25, 1932 2,667,879 Mann et al Feb. 2, 1932 2,686,305 Hall Aug. 10, 1954 

